From Arthur
by UnsuspectingHearts
Summary: "The empty apartment echoed with the sound of her sobs as she lay alone, a whole new meaning to the word empty." Arthur's leaving and wanted to do something special for Ariadne... A/A


**A/N: I've been writing Inception fics for a while but have finally got up the nerve to post one of them :) This story was inspired by a scene from an episode of CSI where Grissom upsets Sara so buys her a plant to make up for it. It's a favourite scene of mine because he doesn't know what to write in the card and spent a while deliberating over it but merely writes "From Grissom." So that's were the inspiration for this came from, but of course with an A/A twist :) This was beta'd by my lovely sister! Reviews are of course welcomed and I can only hope I got the characters right!**

**Disclaimer: If I owned Inception there would have been more than one kiss between these two! Sadly Christopher Nolan didn't agree with me.**

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><p>Ariadne walked into the dingy Paris warehouse. She wasn't really sure why they hadn't splashed out after Inception and bought some place a little fancier, but then again, she loved the warehouse. She liked to think of it as quirky, and tried to brighten it up as best she could. Currently, she was almost alone in the warehouse.<p>

Eames sat at his desk, rocking out to some form of music playing over his headphones. He was particularly enjoying the song, meaning he barely noticed when Ariadne entered the building. She was nodded a quick hello from Yusuf, who was situated towards the back of the building, playing with his newest batch of chemicals. She looked around, feeling more than slightly alone.

Arthur had left the previous night. He and Cobb had been planning this particular job for weeks, and although she knew it was coming, she didn't know exactly how long he'd be gone for, and it made her heart ache. Now, spotting his empty desk beside Eames', she felt her heart break that little bit more. She couldn't call him, she couldn't write to him. She had no way of contacting her missing piece. And even if she wanted to, she had no idea where he was – the whole project had been top secret, with only Cobb and Arthur clued in.

The night before, she'd arrived home to find Arthur already there. They had been living together for almost a year now, but it was rare he was home before her. Another rarity had been that he'd even cooked dinner for her. They sat and ate in near silence, neither of them really knowing what to say in their current situation. They'd finished, and for the first time she could remember, he'd left the plates on the table instead of cleaning them up. His eyes had drifted to the clock, and he stood, taking her hands in his and pulling her up, hugging her tightly. The rain was slipping down the windows of their apartment, and she'd needed to be in it. She'd pushed him away and left him in silence as she walked out of the front door.

She'd walked in the rain through Paris for what seemed like hours. She was getting herself used to what her life was to be like without Arthur. She stared at the places they knew, the places she associated with him, but none of them felt right. It was like the colour had washed away with the rain. She wondered how life had been before she'd met him, and she honestly couldn't remember – it had been so long. She'd rounded a corner and he'd been waiting for her, standing in the rain, water dripping off of his hair and onto his tailored jacket. She'd stood, staring at him, feeling the sting of tears in her eyes as she realised how much she relied on him, and how much she needed him. She ran to him, throwing her arms around him tightly as she began to cry, begging him to stay with her as the tears slipped down her cheeks and mingled with the rain. He ran his hand down her back, promising her he'd return to her – he just couldn't tell her when. She shivered, her sobs muffled by Arthur's shoulder. He shrugged his jacket off and wrapped it around her shoulders tightly, pressing his lips to her cheek as he tried to fight off his own tears. He hated seeing her like this – it was bad enough knowing you'd be away for an undisclosed amount of time, and that there was always the risk of not coming back, but leaving behind someone so important, and more than that, leaving them in this state was something that would never sit right with him.

They stood in the rain for a while, allowing their troubles to be washed away as they forgot about what was to come. They ignored the looks they got from passing people, staring at the bizarre couple standing crying in the rain. They just lost themselves in each other before the rain grew heavier and Arthur took her hand in his and pulled her back through the streets towards their apartment. The apartment was dark and he hadn't bothered to turn the light on as he'd pulled her to their room to change. They both needed to change as they shivered violently from the cold, and they walked to their respective sides of the room to gather new clothes. Wet material was peeled off of skin as they began changing. They caught each other's eye from across the room and all of the passion, worries, fears, thoughts and feelings they had about each other came to a head as they allowed themselves to get lost to each other one last time.

They lay in the dark, memorising everything about each other, knowing this was their last chance to learn something new about each other. No words were needed; their silent embrace was enough to say more than words ever could. Ariadne ignored the gentle tick of the clock that sat on Arthur's side of the room, desperately hoping that she could freeze this moment and spend the rest of her days just like this – completely content. But eventually, she couldn't stop herself from watching the precious seconds tick by. She'd felt the tears slipping down her cheeks and onto Arthur's skin before she even knew she was crying. He'd pulled her closer than he thought possible, and held her as her shoulder's shook, her sobs silent.

The time had arrived sooner than either of them had wanted, and prising himself from Ariadne, Arthur had stood and dressed himself, his bag packed already and waiting in the wardrobe. Ariadne watched him walking around, the lump in her throat growing larger each second. He turned to her: she was still sitting on the bed, the sheet secured beneath her arms as she watched him, her bottom lip quivering. He threw his bag down and walked briskly back to the bed, pulling her close one last time, his arms engulfing her in one final embrace. She buried her head into his neck, breathing in his scent and running her hands up his back, memorising each contour. He pressed his nose into her hair, remembering the delicate scent as he fought back the tears he could feel in his eyes. He pulled back, holding her face in his hands as he kissed her fiercely, all the words that ever needed to be said exchanged in that single kiss. Pulling back, he leaned his forehead against hers, a single tear slipping down his cheek as she began to sob gently, but Arthur didn't try to comfort her this time. He stroked her tear-streaked cheek and stood, turning from her and heading for his bag in the doorway. They'd promised themselves no goodbyes, but as he left her, he couldn't help but feel like that had been a mistake. He needed those words – he needed them and so many more that hadn't been said, but he knew for now he'd have to live without them.

She listened to the front door close with a quiet click, and with that the facade she'd tried to keep up for Arthur's sake dissolved. She lay down beneath the covers, the tears flowing freely now as she lay in the empty bed beside the newly vacated spot. The empty apartment echoed with the sound of her sobs as she lay alone, a whole new meaning to the word empty.

Now, standing in the warehouse in front of Arthur's desk, she felt that same lump form. She laid a hand against the mahogany surface, feeling the cool shine against her skin. She tried not to think of how long it could be before she saw this desk occupied, and made a silent resolution to keep it up to Arthur's high standards. That meant dusting it every day and polishing it at least once a week. She felt a hand on her shoulder, and for a millisecond she allowed herself to pretend it was Arthur.

The British accent brought her back to reality with a thud as she turned to face Eames, who'd removed his iPod and was now stood behind her. He didn't speak, merely indicated to her desk with his head. She looked past him and quickly spotted what he was referring to. She walked past him and stood in front of her desk, staring at the new addition.

Sitting atop the wooden surface was a small green plant sitting inside a bright vase. It was something she didn't remember ordering, but did remember looking at for several weeks in a nearby flower store. Sitting beside the plant was a small card. She picked it up and read the neatly printed words:

_From Arthur_

She smiled brightly and allowed herself to chuckle at his thoughtfulness. He'd been gone only a few hours and already he was trying to distract her by giving her something to care for. She quickly realised the card had a flap. She looked confused, but slowly flipped it up.

_Check the plant._

She furrowed her brow, but quickly turned the plant around, searching for whatever he was referring to. It didn't take her long to find a small package with a note attached to it. She picked it up and opened the note to find more of Arthur's neat writing.

_Marry me?_

Her eyes widened and she quickly opened the tissue paper wrapping, staring down at the delicate silver jewelled ring nestled safely amongst the paper. She grinned widely, but felt a pang of sadness as she realised she wouldn't be able to tell Arthur her answer. Quickly, she decided it didn't matter – she would wait forever for him. She picked up the ring and slid it onto her finger, hoping that wherever Arthur was right now, he knew her answer would always be yes.


End file.
